A rough landing!

Tuesday, my flight lesson included landings. I must say that they are a little more difficult than I originally thought. With a little practice, they will become easier. It doesn’t matter how many times that you read about them and practice in your mind, there is no substitute for the real thing. So anyways, we were able to practice landing like 12 times. We would just land, take off and get back in to the pattern. We had a few landings that were rough. We actually landed on all three wheels once. That was bad. We also got caught in some air disturbance from a plane that landed in front of me, twice. It is weird to be approaching the runway nice and easy and then at the last second, the plane is all over the place. You have to make some quick adjustments. I am proud to say that my best landing included the disturbance. Really, I am not sure what I did to correct for it, but it was a good landing, so I take credit for it. Next week, my lesson will include more of the same.

We got our 2 sheds delivered yesterday. Special thanks goes out to the towing company because they dropped them off nowhere close to where they go. After work, Melinda, Mat, Meagan and I tried to push the smaller of the 2 sheds. Uhhh…that didn’t work. It wouldn’t budge. Next, we tried to use a 4x4 as a lever and 1 person lifted the shed and the others pushed it around. This was very slow, but it was working. Just when I was thinking that we were going to spend hours moving the stupid shed, a group of teenage boys on bikes showed up looking for Meagan. How wonderful it is to have a beautiful teenage daughter sometimes. Melinda told them that they needed to help us for Meagan to be able to hang out with them. Yes!!! The ultimate bribe! With three more boys, it took us a total of 5 minutes to get the smaller shed in to place. Thanks goes out to Meagan’s friends. They can hang out any time, unless one of them asks her out. Then, they are banned from our property! We will have to get Billy and his tractor to help us move the larger shed because the towing company dropped it off in the middle of the side yard. Maybe I will post a picture of it and let everyone know where is should be. It is truly funny.

FYI

Mandy has pointed out that you only have to complete an offer to count as complete for me in the free iPod offer. You do not have to refer 5 friends. So, if you are just trying to help me out and don't care about getting a free iPod, just complete an offer for me. Thanks.

So far:
Mandy has completed
Bob has signed up and yet to complete an offer

I need 3 more people!!!

There goes the neighborhood!!!

So I was down at Jen and Billy’s house talking to Billy and he mentioned that they may move in this weekend. We may have neighbors on our street by the weekend!!! Meanwhile, at the house across the street, Jayson and Wendy got their phone service, but no cable modem. That will be coming soon I hear. Ok, I have to come clean and say that I was fairly outspoken in telling people that I didn’t think that either of those houses would be done before Thanksgiving. Well guys, prove me wrong!!!

Last night, Melinda had to pick up Mat from play practice because his ride left him at the school. Needless to say, the parents who left Mat behind are in for a surprise when we don’t give a ride to their kids today! Hehehe. I say all this to say that as soon as Melinda left the house, Lucas, Christian and Maya came over to see Mitchell. I invited them in to play in the basement with Mitchell and Marissa. Oh yeah, Logan had come over a little while before Melinda left, so we had a full house of kids. This is just a preview of what is coming for all the families on the street. On any given night, this could be you. Note to the parents who may read this: All the children were pretty good. Actually, we did have 1 issue. Logan decided to tattle on Mitchell because he wasn’t sharing the Xbox. I told Logan to have Mitchell come upstairs and I would take care of it. Logan then went downstairs and I overheard him say that Mitchell needed to come talk to me because someone told on him. Not Logan, but someone. Ha, that was funny.

In case anyone needs another laugh, check out this auction:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1469&item=5510319713&rd=1

This guy will ship overseas, so email him and you could get in on this deal!!
Remember the iPod deal. I need help to realize the dream. Please join.

Free ipod!!!

Please help me to get a free $250 iTunes certificate and you could get one in the process. You can also get a free iPod. It is your choice. Click on the link HERE or at the bottom of the post to help me out and register yourself for a free iPod also. All you have to do is signup, complete one of the special offers and refer 5 of your friends to get in on this special offer.

Now you may be wondering if this is legit. Yes it is!!! The good folks at G4TechTV's Screensavers signed up and Kevin got a $250 iTunes gift certificate and Alex got a 20GB iPod. They also have been written about in the USA Today. Anyway, if you sign up and use my referral link, I will give you a free gmail account invite. Gmail is Google's new email system with 1GB of storage. No more full email boxes with gmail!

Some suggestions of offers to complete:
1. The Blockbuster Offer - 2 weeks of Blockbuster Online for free!!
2. 13 Weeks of the USA Today. This one costs money, but if you want the paper, a good one to try.
3. BMG 12CDs for the price of 1 Deal.


http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=9092457

Slickdeal just for Jen

Here is another Slick Deal for those of you who have a DVD Burner. NewEgg has 100 Pack DVD+R for $35.99 - $10 MIR. I told Jen about it this morning and she asked that I post a link on my blog, so click HERE.

A Picture of Emma!!!

Look fast because she will be grown before you know it!

Quick Update

Just a quick update before I go watch the Michigan-Purdue game.

Mom - The Kite link in the last post is fixed. Click on it now!

Mouse Update: I spoke too soon yesterday, we did catch a mouse, it was under Dan's desk. Actually, we didn't catch it, the trap killed it. It also seems that 2 of the 4 mice have disappeared from outside the door. Maybe the live mice started to drag them off to give them a proper burial. Who knows, I just know they aren't eating our food.

This morning, we went to buy a shed. There is a place on Dixie Hwy that has some models on clearance. We wanted this nice red shed that had a lot of upgrades and was like 50% off, but some guy bought it right from under us. I said that a nice compromise would be to buy the $10000 Barn/Shed. It was awesome! It had 2 floors and you could pull a car in it with lots of room left over. Anyway, they were selling that model for $2500 if you could find a way to move it. I am still trying to find a way, but it doesn't look too good. In its place, we bought 2 smaller sheds and they should deliver them fully assembled this week some time. If anyone knows who would move the big Barn/Shed, please let me know because it is a great deal!

Funny Ebay Auctions

Ok, this is a little weird, but someone here sent me a link to an auction this morning that wasn’t meant to be humorous, but I found it funny. They were selling a HUGE collection of Japanese games. Someone has a huge obsession. They were asking like $70000 for it. Needless to say, it didn’t sell. This whole incident got me wondering, what other funny things can I find on Ebay. Below, is a list of just a few things I found.

Marshmallow stick – Ok, this one made me laugh. You must read the questions. I can’t believe it actually sold! Maybe it is because it came from a sassafras tree. Hehe… sassafras.

Poem4You– This guy will actually write you a poem if you are the winner. The description is funny. He will write about anything you want.

Hurricane Wind - This guy is pretty funny. He bottled hurricane wind in Tupperware containers and is selling it to the highest bidder. If that isn’t enough, he is also selling a Kite that he flew in hurricane Ivan. His descriptions are haliarous. I wish I’d have thought of the idea.

A couple of other funny auctions:

Crappy Wedding Gift
Digital Picture

MacLachlan...Out!!!

Another Slick Deal (Hard Drive)

Ok, this one is for Jen especially. Outpost.com has a 120GB Seagate for $39.99 after rebate. Just click HERE. The drive has a 5 year warranty which is quite good. Add it to your current system for a ton of video storage.

TGIF

I’m so glad it’s Friday! This has been the most hectic week at work I have had in a while. There are too many new things that need processes. Oh well, in a few hours, I will be outta here for the weekend! Actually, it is like 7 hours, but who cares, it’s Friday!!!

Back Update: My back is feeling better at the moment, but I still need to go to the specialist. They usually can’t get you in right away, so I am glad God has given me a rest from the pain.

Mouse Update: We didn’t catch any mice last night. Maybe we got them all, but who knows. It seems Bob & Butch are now known as the Mouse Slayers. If you have seen Shark Tale, you will know what I am talking about. They aren’t as hip as Will Smith is though. The Mice Slayers lined the mice up outside the door so that any mice that happen to pass by the building will see their fallen comrades.

Pray for my back

Yesterday I had to visit the doctor to get X-rays of my back. For about the last month and half, I have been having back problems. Hopefully the pain will be gone soon. At the beginning of September I had to go to Dr. Oneil’s in the middle of the night to get a shot in my back because I was in so much pain. After that, the pain went away in my right leg, but about three weeks ago, the pain came back in my left leg. Yesterday was kind of my breaking point. It was a little worse than normal as far as pain goes, but I just lost my patience and decided that the pain had to stop. I called the Dr. Patel and he referred me to a specialist and asked me to get X-rays. Yesterday I got the X-rays and today, I will call the specialist to make an appointment. Whatever is causing the pain, I just want it fixed so I don’t walk like a cripple.

Mouse hunt update: Our trap has produced another mouse! Butch has decided that we need to add a trap to the mix, so now we have 2. I cannot disclose the locations of the traps in case the mice are reading…wait, we are not setting traps, all the desks are trap free! Heh…heh…suckers.

The great mouse hunt!

We have mice in our office, or so that is what I was told last Friday. I have candy in my desk drawer and I was told by my colleagues to store it in a different place because the mice would get it. I must admit that I was skeptical, but Monday morning, Bob’s overhead bin was ransacked by a mouse. It shreaded his Kleenex and used it as a potty. This one incident was all it took for Bob to bring out the big guns, or shall I say the big trap. He baited with peanut butter and set the trap under the desk and waited. Well, we didn’t have to wait long. This morning when I came in, there was a dead mouse under Bob’s desk. It looks as if the peanut butter was too much to resist. He is not stopping with one mouse though, he will fight until every mouse is eradicated from the first floor! More to come.

Dude...don't speak so soon!

While I was looking at the comments to my last post, Jen said something that encouraged me to post. Actually, it was Billy that said it, Jen was just quoting. What did he say you ask? He said something to the effect of, why would I want to pay for radio? If you want the exact quote, check the comments to my last post. To Billy, I say, "Dude, don't speak so soon!" A few years back, I remember a lot of people saying, "now why would I want to pay for TV?" Last time I checked, Billy is the proud owner of a Satellite system that unless he has one of those illegal smart cards, he is paying for TV. He is also paying for TiVo, either on a monthly basis or he already paid for the lifetime subscription. Now why would anyone pay a monthly fee to record TV??? Hmmm. My point in this is not to rip my friend Billy. I really can't since I pay for satellite and TiVo. Heck, I even pay for XM. Satellite radio is well worth it. I can listen to the same station anywhere in North America and some reports say I can listen anywhere in the world. The message is this, be careful because in the future, you never know what you might end up paying for that was once free. Remember when the ATM was free?

A boring couple of days.

Ok, I have to just say that I am so happy that people I know have been using Slickdeals. Yes, that means you Jen! Actually, Melinda has been using it too, but she has been using it for a few years. It is a good feeling to help people save money on tech products. Hmmm, maybe they wouldn’t have spent the money before Slickdeals, so I am actually costing them money. Ahhh…something to ponder.

Yesterday I was sick. All day I felt like I had to throw up, but I never did. It was weird. Stomach problems are never good. On the plus side, since I didn’t go to work, I got to spend the whole day with Emma! She is awesome! At night, I sucked it up and helped Billy with some of his floor. Apparently I am the floor expert since I helped a friend lay one before. Anyway, in the 2 hours I was down there, we got quite a bit done. I will probably help him again on Friday after my flight lesson. If it rains, I will probably be grounded, so Billy will get extra help in that case. Well, that is the quick update of my boring life…MacLachlan…Out!

Weekend Getaway!!!

Melinda and I got to go to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes overnight on Friday! It was a good time to getaway, but I did miss Emma.

Awesome MP3 Player Deal!!!

If you are looking for a good MP3 player and you don’t want to spend iPod money, then check out Dell.com. They have their Dell DJ 15GB Player for $129 and free shipping. Just click HERE. The site will say that it is $179, but when you add it to the cart and go to the checkout, enter the following coupon code: 3G5HL48BG9CHSB. Click Apply Coupon and the new price will be $129, plus you will get free shipping. Don’t debate too long because this deal ends October 5. If you have any questions about how to set it up or use it, just ask, I'll help you. MacLachlan...Out!

Weekend Update

Friday was the first day that I actually talked on the radio during my flight lesson. I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about talking for the first time. Over and over, I asked my instructor, “ok, so what do I say again?” This was all after I read over the section in my FAR/AIM about radio communications. Anyway, I was able to communicate fairly well to Pontiac ground and get clearance to taxi to the runway. Then, when I spoke to the tower to request clearance for takeoff, it all went down hill. I was a little nervous and I asked to be cleared to takeoff on runway 9L. That would be fine, except that everyone was landing on 9L. I am sure that in that split second, the tower was thinking, “what is this guy thinking?” Before what I did had any time to sink in with the controller in the tower, my fearless instructor jumped on the radio and corrected what I had said. Crisis averted.

Saturday was Homecoming for Meagan and Mat. My gosh, you would have thought that Meagan was getting ready for the premiere of a motion picture that she was starring in. She got home from her Dad’s at 11:30AM and she spent until 8:00pm getting ready. On the other hand, Mat started getting ready at about 7:00PM and he only started at 7 because he thought they were leaving at 7:30. Girls are funny. No girl I ever dated spent that long in the bathroom though. One year, we had a game on Saturday that didn’t end until 4:00PM and Homecoming started at 7:00PM. Melinda vowed that for her sanity, Meagan will not take that long next year.